Robbins, Judge, and Vohra

Organizational Behavior
15th Edition

What
What Is
Is Organizational
Organizational
Behavior?
Behavior?
Kelli J. Schutte
William Jewell College
Copyright 2014 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational 1-1
Behavior, 15e
Chapter
Chapter Learning
Learning Objectives
Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the
workplace.
Describe the managers functions, roles, and skills.
Define organizational behavior (OB).
Show the value to OB of systematic study.
Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute
to OB.
Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.
Identify the challenges and opportunities managers have in
applying OB concepts.
Compare the three levels of analysis in this books OB model.

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The
The Importance
Importance of
of Interpersonal
Interpersonal
Skills
Skills
Understanding OB helps determine manager
effectiveness
Technical and quantitative skills are important
But leadership and communication skills are CRITICAL

Organizational benefits of skilled managers

Lower turnover of quality employees
Higher quality applications for recruitment
Better financial performance

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What
What Managers
Managers Do
Do

They get things done through other people.

Management Activities:
Make decisions
Allocate resources
Direct activities of others to attain goals

Work in an organization
A consciously coordinated social unit composed of two or more
people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a
common goal or set of goals.

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Management
Management Functions
Functions

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Mintzbergs
Mintzbergs Managerial
Managerial Roles
Roles

Discovered ten managerial roles

Separated into three groups:

Interpersonal
Informational
Decisional

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Mintzbergs
Mintzbergs Managerial
Managerial Roles:
Roles:
Interpersonal
Interpersonal Figurehead

Leader Liaison

Interpersonal Roles

See E X H I B I T 11 for details

See E X H I B I T 11 for details

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Mintzbergs
Mintzbergs Managerial
Managerial Roles:
Roles:
Informational
Informational Monitor

Spokesperson Disseminator

Informational Roles

See E X H I B I T 11 for details

See E X H I B I T 11 for details

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Mintzbergs
Mintzbergs Managerial
Managerial Roles:
Roles:
Decisional
Decisional Entrepreneur

Negotiator Disturbance handler

Resource allocator

Decisional Roles
See E X H I B I T 11 for details
See E X H I B I T 11 for details

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Essential
Essential Management
Management Skills
Skills
Technical Skills
The ability to apply specialized
knowledge or expertise

Human Skills
The ability to work with, understand,
and motivate other people, both
individually and in groups

Conceptual Skills
The mental ability to analyze and
diagnose complex situations

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 Luthans
Luthans StudyStudy of of Managerial
Managerial
Activities
Activities
Four types of managerial activity:
Traditional Management
Decision making, planning, and controlling
Communication
Exchanging routine information and processing paperwork
Human Resource Management
Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and
training
Networking
Socializing, politicking, and interacting with others

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Successful
Successful vs.
vs. Effective
Effective Allocation
Allocation
by
by Time
Time

Managers who got promoted faster (were successful)

did different things than did effective managers
(those who did their jobs well)
E X H I B I T 12
E X H I B I T 12

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Organizational
Organizational Behavior
Behavior

A field of study that investigates the

impact that individuals, groups,
and structure have on behavior
within organizations, for the
purpose of applying such
knowledge toward improving an
organizations effectiveness.

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Intuition
Intuition and
and Systematic
Systematic Study
Study

The two are complementary means of predicting

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An
An Outgrowth
Outgrowth of
of Systematic
Systematic Study
Study
Evidence-Based Management (EBM)

Basing managerial decisions on the best available

scientific evidence

Must think like scientists:

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Managers
Managers Should
Should Use
Use All
All Three
Three
Approaches
Approaches
The trick is to know when to go with your gut.
Jack Welsh

Intuition is often based on inaccurate information

Faddism is prevalent in management
Systematic study can be time consuming

Use evidence as much as possible to inform your intuition

and experience. That is the promise of OB.

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Contributing
Contributing Disciplines
Disciplines

Many behavioral sciences

have contributed to the
development of
Organizational
Behavior

See E X H I B I T 13 for details

See E X H I B I T 13 for details

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Psychology
Psychology
The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes
change the behavior of humans and other animals.

Unit of Analysis:
Individual
Contributions to OB:
Learning, motivation, personality, emotions, perception
Training, leadership effectiveness, job satisfaction
Individual decision making, performance appraisal, attitude
measurement
Employee selection, work design, and work stress

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Social
Social Psychology
Psychology
An area within psychology that blends concepts from
psychology and sociology and that focuses on the influence of
people on one another.

Unit of Analysis:
Group
Contributions to OB:
Behavioral change
Attitude change
Communication
Group processes
Group decision making

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Sociology
Sociology

The study of people in relation to their fellow human

beings.

Unit of Analysis:
-- Organizational System -- Group

Contributions to OB:
Group dynamics Formal organization theory
Work teams Organizational technology
Communication Organizational change
Power Organizational culture
Conflict
Intergroup behavior

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Anthropology
Anthropology

The study of societies to learn about human beings and

their activities.

Unit of Analysis:
-- Organizational System -- Group

Contributions to OB:
Organizational culture Comparative values
Organizational environment Comparative attitudes
Cross-cultural analysis

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Few
Few Absolutes
Absolutes in
in OB
OB
Situational factors that make the main relationship
between two variables changee.g., the relationship
may hold for one condition but not another.

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Challenges
Challenges and
and Opportunities
Opportunities for
for OB
OB
The major challenges and opportunities are:
Responding to Economic Pressures
Responding to Globalization
Managing Workforce Diversity

Some other challenges and

opportunities include:
Improving Customer Service
Improving People Skills
Stimulating Innovation and Change
Coping with Temporariness
Working in Networked Organizations
Helping Employees Balance Work-Life Conflicts
Creating a Positive Work Environment
Improving Ethical Behavior

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Responding
Responding to
to Economic
Economic Pressures
Pressures
What do you do during
difficult economic times?
Effective management is critical
during hard economic times.
Managers need to handle
difficult activities such as firing
employees, motivating
employees to do more with less,
and working through the stress
employees feel when they are
worrying about their future.
OB focuses on issues such as
stress, decision making, and
coping during difficult times.
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Responding
Responding to
to Globalization
Globalization
Increased foreign
assignments

Working with people from

different cultures

Overseeing movement of
jobs to countries with low-
cost labor

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Managing
Managing Workforce
Workforce Diversity
Diversity
The people in organizations are becoming more
heterogeneous demographically
Embracing diversity
Changing demographics
Changing management philosophy
Recognizing and responding to differences

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Developing
Developing an
an OB
OB Model
Model
A model is an abstraction of reality a simplified
representation of some real-world phenomenon.
Our OB model has three levels of analysis
Each level is constructed on the prior level

E X H I B I T 1-4
E X H I B I T 1-4

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Types
Types of
of Study
Study Variables
Variables

Independent (X) Dependent (Y)

The presumed cause of the
change in the dependent
variable (Y).
This is the variable that OB
researchers manipulate to
observe the changes in Y.
This is the response to X (the
independent variable).
It is what the OB researchers
want to predict or explain.
The interesting variable!

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Interesting
Interesting OB
OB Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables
Productivity
Transforming inputs to outputs at lowest cost. Includes the concepts
of effectiveness (achievement of goals) and efficiency (meeting
goals at a low cost).
Absenteeism
Failure to report to work a huge cost to employers.
Turnover
Voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an
organization.
Deviant Workplace Behavior
Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and
thereby threatens the well-being of the organization and/or any of its
members.

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 More
More Interesting
Interesting OB OB Dependent
Dependent
Variables
Variables
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
Discretionary behavior that is not part of an employees
formal job requirements, but that nevertheless promotes the
effective functioning of the organization.
Job Satisfaction
A general attitude (not a behavior) toward ones job; a
positive feeling of one's job resulting from an evaluation of
its characteristics.

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The
The Independent
Independent Variables
Variables
The independent variable (X) can be at any of these three
levels in this model:
Individual
Biographical characteristics, personality and emotions, values
and attitudes, ability, perception, motivation, individual
learning, and individual decision making
Group
Communication, group decision making, leadership and trust,
group structure, conflict, power and politics, and work teams
Organization System
Organizational culture, human resource policies and practices,
and organizational structure and design

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OB
OB Model
Model

Dependent
Variables (Y)

Independent
Variables (X)

E X H I B I T 15
E X H I B I T 15

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 Summary
Summary and and Managerial
Managerial
Implications
Implications
Managers need to develop their interpersonal skills to
be effective.
OB focuses on how to improve factors that make
organizations more effective.
The best predictions of behavior are made from a
combination of systematic study and intuition.
Situational variables moderate cause-and-effect
relationships, which is why OB theories are contingent.
There are many OB challenges and opportunities for
managers today.
The textbook is based on the contingent OB model.

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 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the
United States of America.

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

Publishing as Prentice Hall

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